Republicans line up against pension plan

Republican state reps. Dwight Kay, of Glen Carbon, and Ed Sullivan, of Mundelein, came out Thursday in opposition to a Democratic plan that they say would shift pension bills to local school districts.

Kay and Sullivan spoke at a news conference in Edwardsville, flanked by Madison County Treasurer Kurt Prenzler and County Board members Chris Slusser and Lisa Ciampoli.

“I think we all want some sort of reform,” Kay said. “We have the worst system in the nation. That’s not good for the state. That’s not good for taxpayers, nor is it good for teachers.”

Kay estimated that shifting the pension debt to District 7 from Springfield would add $2.4 million to District 7’s fiscal year 2011 budget.

Triad, Collinsville and Granite City are also in Kay’s district, and he estimated that approximately $6.6 million would be added in his entire district.

“Shifting the pension debt from the state government to the local school district is absurd,” he said. “This is Springfield’s problem to address and we must solve it, not at the expense of the taxpayer.”

The problem was exacerbated, Kay said, by the passage of legislation in 2005 that allowed legislators to use pension funds for other purposes.

The proposed shift would be between 6 and 9 percent of a school district’s payroll. The proposed bill would take money from the state pension fund to pay for the state’s general operating expenses.

Kay said that districts would have to increase their expenses to pay pensions for teachers, something that would ultimately require them to seek a referendum to have property taxes increased.

Kay said dumping the responsibility in the laps of school districts is irresponsible; if such a shift is ultimately needed, it should be phased in over several years.

After the press conference, Prenzler issued a brief statement: “I don’t think that problems originating in Springfield should be ‘solved’ by increasing local property taxes. That’s not the solution. That’s just passing the buck.”